Coast to Coast!!

Pacific to Atlantic, Cali to NYC, coast to coast... we made it! And apart from a warning for speeding and a tire shredding at 75mph, it was basically incident free. And to be honest, the only reason we got pulled over is because our van looks dodgy, as do the three dirty moustache sporting lads inside. It was Texas, we were 8 minutes into the night time speed limit (it drops 5mph, 30 mins after sunset) and only 3mph over that. Come on!

Don and Trav have been fantastic companions on our journey across, each bringing their own brilliance to the party. So it's sad days indeed to see the end of Dodgey and the dodgy trio. We've managed to cram a lot into the last six weeks, yet it never felt too rushed. Read on for the final chapter or just check out the US summary at the bottom...

Finishing Up the Southwest

Before leaving Arizona we had one last stop, Pima Air and Space Museum. It's a great museum with plenty of aircraft but the highlight there is being able to go through the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) grounds. They have over 4,500 planes, in various states of (dis)repair, sitting out in the desert! Amazing sight.






In New Mexico we visited White Sands National Monument, which is right next to one of the major US missile test sites. It's gypsum sands are incredibly white and vary rare worldwide. And we just couldn't resist getting our fill of Americana with a visit to Roswell. That's a unique place for sure.






As we blasted our way through the middle, we stopped for a steak in Texas and to see Cadillac Ranch. I decided against the challenge of a free 72oz (2kg) steak, if you eat it in an hour. Figured it be a crap piece of meat and probably half gristle so went for some quality instead. I know, I know... the old me would've just shut up and dominated it. Maybe next time. On the way to St. Louis we stopped in to to see the Oklahoma City bombing memorial, which was very nicely done.








Chi-town!

Then it was off to Chicago where we had the biggest/best two nights of the road trip. It was a Wednesday and a Thursday, yet the place was going off! Cheers for the local hookup Chandon! In between hangovers we also managed to check out the city and head up to the 103rd floor of the 520m (including television antennae) Sears tower. Great view from up there.




Back Where I Started

The last few stops were essentially the first few stops of my American leg, just in reverse. Had one night in Columbus (with the ever hospitable Vetricks again), before checking out DC for a few more days and then ending up in NYC. I managed to get to a few new things and also revisited some old favourites. The second part of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (out at Dulles Airport) was a real highlight, with plenty of cool stuff. And we caught a Mets game in NYC. $5 tickets and the view wasn't even that bad!





USA Wrapup

Well it isn't a continent (despite what a few locals might think) but it sure is a massive country and I spent a fair bit of time here, so I figured a wrapup was in order...

Distance travelled (road trip only): 11,300kms

Amount spent on petrol: US$1685

Most expensive petrol: US$5.20/gal (~NZ$1.81/L)

Cheapest petrol: US$3.34/gal (~NZ$1.16/L)

Nights in van: 15

States visited: 20 (plus we could see Kansas but didn't actually cross the border!)

Best city: Chicago, IL

Worst city: Kayenta, AZ (seriously, don't go there, it's crap)

Best National Park: Bryce Canyon and Zion (too close to call)

Best value booze: shop - Canadian Club 1.75L @ US$18, bar - US$1 domestic beers

Best food: lunch at Barcelona's in Columbus (cheers Tom!)

Worst food: blandest sludge I've ever seen pass as Mexican, or food for that matter (see worst city)

Highest altitude: 3,852m (12,637ft)

Lowest altitude: -86m (-282ft)

Highest temperature: 37°C (98°F)

Lowest temperature: -32°C (-25°F)

Most crazies: LA

Most beggars: NYC

Craziest beggar: "I'm collecting money to pay for karate lessons because ninjas kidnapped my Grandmother." in LA

and finally...

Best dumb question/statement: You decide because I just can't pick a winner.

1) scene: Buying beers at an ice hockey game in Columbus, I have just handed over my NZ licence (complete with English writing on it) to verify my age.

vendor: So where are you from? (yes, that's bad enough on it's own but that's not even it!)

me: I'm from New Zealand.

vendor: You speak pretty good English.

me: (after a long pause, I'll be honest, I was in shock) Thanks.

2) scene: Again handing over licence, this time as ID to enter an Air Force base facility.

ticket agent: New Zealand's a state right?

me: (dammit, this one got me too) Ahhh, no, it's a country.

Well the US has been absolutely fantastic, from coast to coast and back. It was great catching up with so many familiar faces and meeting so many new ones. Huge thank you to everyone that helped out along the way! The country is so diverse, in every respect. It really is an ideal place to explore, with something for everyone. I've met some of the nicest people in the world and also some of the worst, seen some of the most beautiful scenery and some of the biggest dumps and had some delicious food and also some terrible stuff. And that's why I love the place.

U.S.A. Road Trip!!

The last month or so has been jam packed with good times, alongside my travel buddies for this portion of the trip, Don and Trav. This blog probably should've been split into two or three but time has just flown by. While spending a week or two checking out L.A., we managed to get everything sorted for our road trip east. And what better way to travel across this country than in a big V8 van! Let me introduce you to Dodgey (complete with four captains chairs and a back bench that folds into a double bed) and the adventures of Team NZ...

Fast Times in Tahoe (and the other cities we've visited)

After the initial down time in L.A., most of our time has been spent outside of cities, but here's a quick rundown of the ones we have visited and what we got up to...

During our time in L.A., we visited the usual suspects, like Hollywood, Rodeo Drive and the famous beaches. It's all pretty much what you'd expect, except perhaps even more of the filthy rich and just plain filthy. In between our days in L.A., we also spent some time in Ojai (Spanish styles, so the 'j' sounds like an 'h', unlike our pronunciation when we asked a local for directions! Damn tourists.) catching up with an old mate from home. Cheers for the good times Shearer! Ojai is a nice little town away from the Big Smoke, so we kept ourselves entertained with bike rides and running in the picturesque hills.

Next up was San Francisco for a couple of days. This was quite a nice city, with it's steep streets, great restaurants and seaside vistas. Unfortunately tours to Alcatraz were booked for several days in advance so we didn't get the chance to go out there. Managed to do everything else that we wanted to though.

The last city we visited in California was Tahoe, to see a friend of a friend. We went from singlet/shorts weather, to a dusting of snow the night we were there, all in a day's drive. Nice ski village at Squaw and cool to be amongst the mountains. Dodgey especially loved it because it meant donuts in the snow.

Then it was off to Vegas baby!! We got a good deal on a nice room at the Palms, which ended up costing us about the same as a hostel. Vegas is all about the money, as I'm sure you're well aware. Everywhere you go just screams money... often at the expense of taste. Great city to spend a few nights in though, with plenty to do. We went to Mysteré by Cirque de Soleil, gambled a bit and plowed our way through our fair share of booze.

Into the Wild

Over this side of the States a lot of the best sights on offer are miles from any city. Indeed some of the best sights I've seen anywhere in the world can be found in the treasure chest that is the National Park system. So here's what we've seen so far outside the American metropolises...

In California we visited Yosemite, with it's towering Giant Sequoias, beautiful rivers and huge rock faces (we climbed as far as weather would allow up Half Dome). The barren salt flats, desert and sand dunes of Death Valley (where we stood at the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at -85.5m) were certainly a stark contrast to the lush and differing landscapes of Yosemite.

On our way into Utah, we stopped off to see the Hoover Dam. Disappointingly, the only way to get a really good view of it is to take a tour, which we were too late for. Still, it is an impressive sight and is absolutely massive. The National Parks that Utah has to offer are the cream of the crop. To come to this part of the world and only see the Grand Canyon would be a real shame, as the likes of Zion and Bryce National Parks are the best we've come across. Unreal landscapes packed full of natural beauty. Finished off the magic of Utah with a drive through Monument Valley.

We've only touched the corner of Colorado and New Mexico at this stage. Literally the corner of New Mexico actually, at Four Corners, where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet. In Colorado we visited Mesa Verde National Park, right in the southwest corner of the state. It contains several ancient Indian abandoned villages. The coolest part is that the villages are actually built into the walls of the surrounding cliffs and caves.

Arizona is also full of great parks to visit, not least the mighty Grand Canyon. Petrified Forest National Park offers a very different landscape, as it is covered with masses of petrified wood. They range in size from chips to whole trees and are incredible to experience first hand. The colours and the weight of the wood that has turned to rock is amazing. We also visited Meteor Crater, the site of the best preserved large crater. And, at 1.2km across and 170m deep, it sure is large! Last but certainly not least, we (well 2/3 of us anyway!) climbed Humphrey's Peak. The views at 3,852m (for all you Kiwis out there, you can compare with Mt. cook at 3,754m) are incredible to say the least. Unfortunately, the wind at the summit was also some of the most incredible I've ever experienced and was trying it's hardest to fling us off the mountain!

That's all for now folks, we've covered about 5,000kms already but there's plenty more to come...